What is a Service Level Agreement?
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) details expectations for service from a technology provider. Typical areas covered include the specific equipment covered by the agreement, a guaranteed level of uptime, and maintenance and support policies.
Having a thorough SLA is highly recommended to prevent misunderstandings and maximize productivity in case of technological failure.
Are computer systems a commodity?
Not if you are living in an age of information. Effective gathering, storing, sharing, and securing information is critical to business success. Computing comes in infinite flavors and getting the right combination leads to productivity gains and long-term strategic advantage.
What is the System Development Life Cycle?
The System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) has five phases: 1) initiation, 2) development or acquisition, 3) implementation, 4) operation or maintenance, and 5) disposal. In some cases, an IT system may occupy several of these phases at the same time.
What is Grid Computing?
Just as the Web is a service for sharing information over the Internet, the Grid is a service for sharing computing power and data storage over the Internet. The Grid allows highly complex problems to be attacked with massive amounts of computer power. See the Grid Cafe at CERN for more information.
Why should I consolidate servers?
The reasons for consolidation include:
- Centralization - Also known as data center consolidation, involves reducing the number of physical locations at which servers are run.
- Server Integration - Involves taking the functions of many servers and placing them on fewer servers to save maintenance costs.
- Data Integration & Virtualization - The combining of data from different sources into a single repository or format for central management and shared access.
- Application Integration - Migrating applications and/or data to a new platform in order to co-locate the application and data.
Learn more about our Server Consolidation Methodology.
What should be in a document retention policy?
The policy should address when you delete data, how you delete data, and what to do if you throw data out incompletely (e.g. emails stored locally). With the volume and scope of data being stored today, developing and implementing such a policy is a daunting task, but in our litigious society, no less than a business requirement.
What is the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)?
ITIL is a comprehensive source of best-practice criteria for IT operations management. It defines functional, operational, and organizational attributes for IT delivery, service, and support. Learn more about ITIL
What is Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT)?
COBIT is an international set of standards for IT governance. It focuses on the definition, implementation, auditing, measurement, and improvement of IT controls. Learn more about COBIT
What is Storage Area Networking (SAN)?
In a Storage Area Network (SAN), storage devices are shared among all networked servers. SAN technology interconnects servers and storage at extremely high speeds, providing reliability, scalability, performance, fault tolerance, load balancing, mirroring and other services.
What is Risk Management?
Risk management is a process that allows IT managers to balance the operational and economic costs of protective measures. It protects IT systems and data that support organizational missions.
What is the Information Security Life Cycle?
Back to Previous Page
